Secret Teacher - Who am I?

I left school with 5 O Levels, which as I had only revised for them, the night before each examination, was pretty good, and went onto Sixth Form College, where I spent a happy year climbing trees, and riding pillion on various motorbikes!

After deciding that I wanted to go into the big wide working world, I worked in many environments, as a Civil Servant within Unemployment benefits, as a Marketing Officer within the Health Authority, to acting as a Home Domestic – my mum still thinks this was really funny, to acting as a Receptionist for a Company selling roof timber. Oh and as a Sales Executive selling wines and spirits!

Deciding that I could advance myself, I slowly built on my existing qualifications at evening school. I went to University in my thirties, had my children in my First and third years, did a Post Graduate course in Business Education, and a teacher was created.  I qualified as a Business teacher, with ICT as a second subject.  My inspiration to become a teacher was from a Biology Teacher, Mrs. Honeyball, when I studied for my A Levels. She was the most amazing teacher, and her enjoyment of being a teacher, obvious. I had already realised that I had the ability to inspire and motivate others, so it was through this experience, that I decided that teaching was for me.

And the rest, as they say, is history.  15 years later I have gained incredible experiences working with children and adults from 5 years to 80 years!  Being a teacher was the career that I was looking for all of my life, although I believe that I am a stronger teacher for my outside teaching experiences. It is a great job where everything funny that has happened to me during my working life can be used within a classroom! How great is that?

And my thoughts about life in general?

I believe that life is for living, and that we should have the freedom to express all that we feel.  That life is based on experiences that reflect how we think, what we do and how we move forward in life. That we are based on facets of life, and those experiences guide us.

That everybody has the right to a great love, although believing that we only have one true love. That is not to say that if we lose that love that we will never find another, but that it will never replace the experience of that first love. We all have the right to this, and no-one should restrict the freedom of any person in achieving this love. 

We have the right to be secure and happy. Security in being able to consider that we are making the most of what we have, and to be able to smile. To give and take, to share smiles, to assist others who need our care, to freely love, and to find pleasures in the most in-extraordinary things.  To see the trees, and not the wood, to see the sky and not dark clouds, and to see the eyes before the smile.

That change for changes sake are not productive, but to be frightened of change dangerous. That as individuals we are different, and that we should relish those differences that make each person unique.

And ducks. Feeding ducks is the true soul cleanser.  I like to feed ducks. It helps me to think and to think more.  It helps me to breathe, to think about the issues that need dealing with, and those issues that can be left behind in the river. Perhaps it’s knowing that you can always return to the river and pick up where you left it. It's really good for the soul.

And that is me. Teacher, Mum and Writer.